Saturday, November 03, 2007

Heads or Tails?

RICHMOND, Va. - A judge who ordered a woman to drop her pants and
decided a custody dispute by flipping a coin was removed from the bench
by the Virginia Supreme Court on Friday. The decision against Juvenile
and Domestic Relations Court Judge James Michael Shull of Gate City was
unanimous.

"Unless
our citizens can trust that judges will fairly resolve the disputes
brought before our courts, and treat all litigants with dignity, our
courts will lose the public's respect and confidence upon which our
legal system depends," Justice Barbara Milano Keenan wrote.

According to the court, Shull admitted tossing a coin to determine
which parent would have visitation with a child on Christmas. Shull
said he was trying to encourage the parents to decide the issue
themselves but later acknowledged that he was wrong.

The pants-dropping incidents, the court said, "were even more egregious."

The court said they occurred when a woman was seeking a protective
order against a partner who she said had stabbed her in the leg. Shull
knew the woman had a history of mental problems and insisted on seeing
the wound, the court said.

The woman dropped her pants once to display the wound, then dropped
them a second time after Shull left the bench for a closer look to
determine whether the woman had received stitches.

A court bailiff testified before the commission that after the
hearing, he asked Shull, "Did you see what that lady had on?" According
to the bailiff, Shull replied: "Yeah, a black lacy thing ... it looked
good, didn't it?"

Shull denied making the comment. His attorney, Russell V. Palmore,
did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Friday.

The justices could have merely censured Shull, but they noted that
he had appeared before the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission in
2004 for allegedly calling a teenager a "mama's boy" and a "wuss" and
advising a woman to marry her abusive boyfriend. That complaint was
dismissed with an admonition to Shull to chalk it up as a learning
experience.

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